MiddletownJournal.com

Here are this week's "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" selections:

Children are often told to seek out a police officer if they ever need help. That was handy advice when Middletown police held their annual "Shop with a Cop" event at Meijer. Many of the 30 needy children who got $100 each to spend on toys and games had to ask for help from the officers to reach the upper shelves, where many of the most desirable toys were just out of reach of the youngsters. The cops obliged, of course, enjoying the Saturday shopping spree as much as the children. The annual event is made possible by donations from the Middletown Fraternal Order of Police, Meijer, Eagles Aerie 528 and the city employees union, which this year totaled $3,100. We are grateful to everyone and every group who took part in this year's "Shop with a Cop" event and helped make the holiday a cheerful one for 30 children who otherwise might have had little or nothing.

Last week, we gave a thumbs up to the Butler County Red Cross and Middletown Community Foundation for teaming up to install smoke detectors in area mobile home communities this fall. On Tuesday, when fire broke out underneath a mobile home on Cranbrook Drive in Lemon Twp., the resident was alerted to the danger by one of those same smoke detectors. Not only was the resident's life likely saved by the instrument, her home was saved by firefighters, thanks to the early warning. The foundation donated a $10,000 grant, stipulating that Red Cross volunteers ensure that the detectors are installed properly. Clearly, this is a case of a job well done by all parties concerned.

Early next year, Miami University Middletown is opening a branch campus downtown in the old Masonic Temple building on North Main Street, a site formerly occupied by the Rising Phoenix Theatre Company. Once up and running, the Miami Middletown Downtown will offer a variety of courses, workshops, seminars and cultural events. The facility will eventually feature a mini-restaurant so residents will have a place to relax and catch up with news via a wireless Internet connection. This branch of MUM will bring excitement and activity to our downtown area. We applaud the university for the investment downtown.

The key to the city of Middletown is being given to Dr. Victor Samuel Gonzalez, president of the Western Baptist Convention and chief of oncology at Calixto Carcia Hospital in Havana. Gonzalez is being honored for leading the local nonprofit Caring Partners International's missionary and humanitarian efforts in Cuba for the last 11 years. In that time, Caring Partners has made 20 trips to the communist country, delivering four 40-foot containers full of medical supplies and equipment, each worth about $300,000. Gonzalez said the key to the city is "a great honor for the religious people and the people of Cuba." Just as important, he said, is that the gift of medicine opens the hearts and minds of the Cuban people to his humanitarian message. We applaud the efforts of Victor Gonzalez and Caring Partners in furthering the cause of peace and understanding in today's tense world.